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Beginning of the Sabbath Controversies; The Sermon on the Plain

In the last lesson, Jesus was being investigated by religious authorities from Jerusalem, to see if his doctrines are consistent with official 1^st century Judaism. There is nothing unusual about this; independent "holy men"—including John the Baptist (cf Jn 1:19-28)—were often investigated.

John called his investigators a "Brood of Vipers." Jesus does not confront his inquisitors quite this directly . . . but when he heals a paralytic, he "rubs their noses" in his power to heal through forgiveness of sin . . . and he deliberately eats with men his inquisitors consider sinful. Jesus seems to be trying to send a message back to Jerusalem that he claims authority and power beyond that of traditional rabbis . . . and he believes his teachings will replace their traditions and their oral law. These Pharisees and teachers of the Jewish law are absolutely right to see Jesus as a threat!

What is the response of official Judaism to Jesus’ teachings? Do they condemn him as a heretic and a blasphemer . . . and forbid observant Jews to have anything to do with Jesus? They can’t do that. Jesus has healed the sick and cast out demons . . . and the people are grateful. When he healed a leper and forgave sins, he proved he has the authority and power of God by performing miracles Jews believed only God could do. Jesus is so popular he is mobbed by crowds of admirers wherever he goes. If the Jewish authorities try to condemn Jesus for his miracles, they risk revolt in the synagogues.

So what do they do? They undertake a campaign that resembles today’s "politics of personal destruction." Remember 2½ weeks ago—on Thursday before the California election—Arnold Schwarzenegger was accused of admiring Adolph Hitler 30 or 40 years ago. This was intended to imply that—deep down inside—Arnold is an evil person . . . but whatever we might think of Arnold, the tactic stank!

The so-called Sabbath Controversies—beginning in 6:1-11—are a similar tactic used against Jesus. His opponents are smart enough not to attack Jesus for his miracles . . . they attack him for not observing the Sabbath. The people are familiar with God’s command to do no work on the Sabbath (Ex 20:10), so that’s something they understand. And who defines Sabbath regulations? . . . why the Pharisees and teachers of the law, of course. Hence by shifting the focus from Jesus’ miracles to Sabbath regulations, Jesus’ opponents are carefully choosing the battleground!

This also explains why so many of the charges against Jesus for breaking the Sabbath seem silly. They aren’t real charges. They are trumped up to mask the real complaints against Jesus. No one complained when Jesus healed and cast out a demon on the Sabbath in Capernaum (4:33-39); Jesus’ opponents are redefining Sabbath regulations so they can criticize him. It’s really just a power struggle.

There is no better example of this than the incident in the grainfields (6:1). Jesus’ disciples "pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels" (6:1). Jewish law forbid complete harvesting of a grainfield and required that some be left for the poor (Lev 23:22); so the disciples aren’t accused of stealing. They are accused of working on the Sabbath: reaping and winnowing. Yes it’s silly . . . except in the context that the charge is designed to obfuscate the real issues—just like the charges of Arnold’s Nazi sympathies.

Jesus responds with typical brilliance. He reaches into the bible and pulls up an obscure story from 1 Sam 21 in which the great King David and his men ate bread consecrated to God. It’s an example that David "broke" one of God’s laws when he and his men were hungry . . . so Jesus’ point seems to be: if God sanction the breaking of one of His laws then, why not another now. Moreover, the Messiah, we recall, is the "Son of David" (cf 20:41) . . . and Jesus concludes: "The Son of Man"—the Messiah—"is Lord of the Sabbath" (6:5).

The next story builds on that claim by exploring the real meaning of the Sabbath . . . and by doing another God-like miracle. Healing a man’s shriveled hand is not something any mortal claims the power to do . . . but Jesus does, and once again "grandstands" in front of his inquisitors. Jesus has the man stand up front—where everyone can see him and his shriveled hand. Then he asks his inquisitors: "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" (6:9). That’s a question designed to entrap them, so they don’t answer. But Jesus knows the answer and "restores" the shriveled hand, embarrassing his inquisitors in front of the crowd . . . leaving them "furious" and intent on finding a way to get back at Jesus (6:10-11).

Jesus next prays all night on a mountainside, and in the morning makes a formal call of 12 apostles—12 closest disciples. There’s not time to say much about them tonight, but recall Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew were called in last week’s lesson. And one of the 12—Simon the Zealot—is assumed to be an advocate of violent overthrow of Rome. However, except for this one apostle—who seems to play little role in Jesus’ ministry—Jesus does virtually nothing to indicate that his purpose as Messiah is for anything other than spiritual salvation.

Jesus comes down from the mountain and stands with his 12 apostles on a plain—or "level place." Once again people crowd around him . . . people from far away places of Judea, south of Jerusalem, and from Tyre and Sidon—modern Lebanon. (These latter people may even be Gentiles!)

Then Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Plain. We are much more familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, but the Sermon on the Plain has so many similarities with the Sermon on the Mount that many scholars believe it’s an abridged version.

It’s easy to see how the events of Jesus’ ministry thus far lead to the teachings in this sermon. Jesus has healed and exorcized and otherwise performed God-like miracles, and he claims this gives him the authority of God to reinterpret God’s law. The Pharisees and teachers of the law now charge Jesus with breaking God’s Sabbath law . . . and Jesus must respond. His first response came when he healed a man’s shriveled hand on the Sabbath. But now he gathers his 12 newly-designated apostles around him, and looks at them (6:20) as he delivers this sermon. In this context he gives what might be his first comprehensive teaching emphasizing the contrast between God’s laws under the New Covenant of the Messiah, and under the old oral law of the Pharisees. Jesus’ point is very straightforward; quoting from the Sermon on the Mount: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:20). Jesus expects his followers to do more than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. With more stringent rules? No . . . with our hearts.

Jesus begins with what we call the "Beatitudes": "Blessed are the . . . " Jesus says those who are poor . . . those who are hungry . . . those who weep are all blessed (6:20-21). And he proclaims corresponding "woes" to those who are rich . . . those who are well fed . . . those who laugh (6:24-25). Strange statements with very complex meanings—which we’ve all heard before in many sermons. But the main point may be that 1^st century Jews believed material wealth was a sign of God’s blessing (cf Deut 28), yet the crowds who seek out Jesus are not the rich or powerful or religiously devout. Jesus’ followers have been those in need of physical and spiritual healing . . . not people who 1^st century Jews considered blessed by God. Hence Jesus may be saying: "You are blessed by God even if you are poor, hungry, or sad . . . and God will punish those who make you miserable."

The next "beatitude" seems an explicit condemnation of the Pharisees; I’ll paraphrase: "Blessed are you who are persecuted because of me" (6:22), and "woe to you when all men speak well of you" (6:26). Jesus reminds them their Jewish forefathers rejected God’s Old Testament prophets . . . so perhaps the fact that the Jewish authorities oppose Jesus is actually a left-handed endorsement of his message as coming from God. And on the "flip" side, since their Jewish forefathers praised false prophets who told them what they wanted to hear (cf 1 Kn 22), perhaps praise from Jewish religious leaders is a sign of a false prophet. Jesus is saying with great clarity: "The Pharisees and teachers of the law are persecuting me . . . just as their forefathers persecuted all of God’s prophets."

In other words, when Jesus speaks, he speaks on behalf of God, just as Old Testament prophets did . . . and those who follow Jesus will be blessed by God—even if what he tells them to do is contrary to Jewish tradition or the opinions of Jewish authorities. It’s a corollary to what I’ve said before . . . that Jesus’ fundamental claim as Messiah is that as son of God he has superior understanding of the intent of God’s laws (Mk 7:13), and the authority to overrule the Pharisees’ traditional 1^st century interpretation of God’s laws.

Jesus then talks about how his followers should respond to those who persecute them . . . and interact with others in general (6:27-38). This is where he defines how his followers will have a "righteousness (which) surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law" (Matt 5:20) by behaving differently than the way dictated by the oral law. The difference is very basic. Whereas the oral law attempted to formulate a rule for behavior in every situation, Jesus offers instead guidelines to determine our behavior:

• "Do to others as you would have them do to you" (6:31). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this "Golden Rule" sums up the Jewish scriptures (Matt 7:12).

• "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (6:36) . . . advice which echoes words from the prophet Micah (Mic 6:8).

The "Golden Rule" has always impressed me as "pure genius": a universal code for behavior applicable for all cultures. If we treat others as we wish to be treated, our hearts are right in interpersonal relations—even if we make mistakes . . . and that’s what’s important to God. And as far as the advice to be "merciful" . . . we do this to show thanks to God, who "is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (6:35) and who has shown mercy to us by sending Jesus to take the punishment for our sins.

Jesus tells us to "love (our) enemies" (6:27). We usually think that’s original with Jesus . . . but it’s not. Listen to Prov 25:

This emphasizes Jesus didn’t bring new laws; instead, he redefines and clarifies God’s unchanging laws (cf Matt 5:17). Jesus’ laws of the New Covenant and the oral law both came from the same Old Testament scriptures—they were just different interpretations.

And Jesus interpretation is that we should, in general, do more than is required—or expected—to do good for others. I especially enjoy his illustration in 6:32-34 . . . and like to compare it to organized crime. Organized criminals are truthful with one another and repay their debts—expecting something in return. But unless we behave better than organized criminals . . . how are we different from them (at least the ones who don’t get their hands dirty!) We must do more for others . . . and not expect a "payback."

Jesus discusses judgment, condemnation, and forgiveness in the context of the "Golden Rule," saying essentially: "What goes around, comes around." If we don’t want others to be judgmental of us, we shouldn’t be judgmental of them. God will judge . . . condemn . . . forgive us according to the standard we use to judge . . . condemn . . . forgive others (6:30c; cf Matt 7:1-2).

These admonitions from Jesus are in sharp contrast to the oral law of the Pharisees, which included strict "tit for tat" rules for personal interactions, which allowed "righteous" Jews to act badly towards those who had wronged them and to take revenge (if done according to the rules), and which exercised harsh judgment against those who didn’t follow the oral law—and especially against non-Jews. His hearers realize this . . . and that’s the point.

Jesus closes the Sermon on the Plain with some parables. The one about the "blind leading the blind" (6:39) is very popular even in our culture today. The Pharisees are "blind guides" (Matt 15:14; 23:16,24), who claim to be showing Jews the way to God, but despite their self-confident, know-it-all attitude, they really haven’t a clue! The parable about the "speck" and the "plank" (6:41-42) emphasizes the fallacy of imperfect people judging one another; why is it we are always acutely aware of the faults of others, yet overlook our own faults.

Jesus introduces the concept that good and bad people are like good and bad fruit trees—unfortunately, an analogy better understood in Jesus’ day than in 21^st century urban America. Jesus’ summary is: "The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart" (6:45). This analogy seems to make two particular points:

1. Like trees, being "good" or "bad" is not something we turn "on" and "off"; it requires a long process of growth and development.
2. Clever men can be good B.S. artists—claiming to be "good" when they are really "evil." However, what they really are is revealed by their "fruit": the people they influence and the things they accomplish for God’s kingdom . . . or Satan’s.

Jesus closes by emphasizing that people must not merely hear what he says, they must do what he says (6:46) . . . they must put his words into practice (6:47). He uses the analogy of building on a firm foundation. 1^st century Jews understood this very well because—although Israel doesn’t get a lot of rainfall—when it does rain, the ground in desert areas because doesn’t absorb rainwater very well, and flash floods can cause a lot of erosion very quickly. These Jews knew the importance of building their houses on a foundation of rock to withstand such rainstorms—and they knew how quickly a house could collapse if it did not have a solid foundation.

We’ll talk about more these topics in later lessons: the Sabbath controversies in Luke 13-14, and the tenets of the Sermon on the Plain, beginning next week with the episode with a sinful woman. Next week we’ll also see Jesus do more miracles, and we’ll have our last encounter with John the Baptist (actually with his disciples). Finally, we’ll witness a healing episode with a Gentile Roman soldier—one of those episodes which many scholars believe foreshadows the acceptance of Jesus by Gentiles, and his rejection by his fellow Jews.